


finds and shall find me unafraid

by EssayOfThoughts



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Escape, F/M, Feeblemind Spell, Hurt/Comfort, Questionable Coping Mechanisms, Rape Aftermath, Trauma, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-26
Updated: 2020-11-23
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:00:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27207775
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EssayOfThoughts/pseuds/EssayOfThoughts
Summary: It says something, Vex thinks, that even after the sickly green magic of Ripley’s wand of Feeblemind, after the cells and what Ripley did, after so many things that could so easily leave someone curled in a corner and avoiding all contact, Percy still so clearly trusts her.--An aftermath.
Relationships: Percival "Percy" Fredrickstein Von Musel Klossowski de Rolo III/Vex'ahlia
Comments: 74
Kudos: 194





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [comprehension, and lack thereof](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12495752) by [sparxwrites](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sparxwrites/pseuds/sparxwrites). 



> This fic will make a lot more sense if you do read _comprehension_ but given its tag warnings I understand if you don't. I'll be posting chapters weekly to this until it's done and I have enough of the second arc of [Ripley's Assistant](https://archiveofourown.org/series/1817857) to start posting it.
> 
> The title is from William Ernest Henley's poem _Invictus._

Percy stays put. The bars can hardly be comfortable against bare skin and bruises but after everything he seems to want this proximity to her. From Percy, always so reticent about touch and affection, the change is odd but under the circumstances - the Feeblemind, the cells, what Ripley had just  _ done _ \- Vex isn’t about to blame him or deny him. Instead she smooths her thumb once more over his cheek then carefully reaches for the ugly swollen bruise. Ripley may have taken her weapons, her picks, even her damn  _ purse, _ but she couldn’t take her magic. Green-gold healing spreads out from Vex’s fingertips and gently she smooths and soothes away the marks left by Ripley’s hand. 

“There we are,” she says, soft and gentle as Percy sighs and relaxes into her touch. “There we are, darling.”

It says something, Vex thinks, that even after the sickly green magic of Ripley’s wand of Feeblemind, after the cells and what Ripley did, after so many things that could so easily leave someone curled in a corner and avoiding all contact, Percy still so clearly trusts her. That he’s staying beside her. 

“Darling,” she says, still soft, still gentle, and Percy’s brow briefly crinkles into a familiar frown. “We need to get out of here.”

He hums almost as though in agreement for all he can’t understand a word.  _ Bitch, _ Vex thinks with vehemence.

Slowly, comforting Percy with gentle touches all the while, Vex takes stock of her surroundings. Her cell is too small for her to let Trinket out of her pendant and for all that Percy and Trinket have gotten along from day one she suspects a giant armoured bear would more likely instill terror than trust in Percy’s Feebleminded state. Her things - her bow and quiver, some of her armour and other gear, her picks and her purse - are all piled with Percy’s - his guns, gear and the remains of his clothes. On a table between her cell and the pile are the scalpels Ripley had used and more besides - a full complement of surgical tools: tweezers, needles, scissors and forceps. Percy is outside the cell free to move around, Ripley trusting that in his state he won’t be able to help her, and her own cell, she knows from bitter experience, is locked.

Vex values her sharp ears - she knows now that, though her cell is locked, the door to the dungeon is  _ not _ . All she needs are the tools to get out of the damned cell.

Percy whines slightly, almost querying, one of his hands reaching to where hers have stilled on his face.

“Shh,” she says. “It’s all right.”

He blinks at her, half-blind without his glasses, but seems to find solace in her words nonetheless. Vex can’t imagine how he’ll be when they fix this - because they  _ will _ fix this, and see Ripley dead too for good measure - what with memories of what Ripley did and his own terror. Percy, Vex knows, values his intellect, hates being afraid, and hates Ripley as much as he dreads her. 

They have to get out.

They have to get out, get their things, find the others, fix Percy, and burn Ripley to the  _ god damned ground. _

“Percy?” His eyes fix on her, unfocussed but direct all the same. “Can you get me those?”

He looks where she points, following her gesture same as Trinket might. Percy may not have the full force of his mind working right now but he’s never been stupid and Vex managed to train Trinket from a cub, back when he’d barely trusted her at all. She can direct a trusting Percy now.

“The tools,” she says. “The shiny ones, you see? Can you bring them to me?”

Voice soft. Patient. Borderline pleading. Vex is not one for pleading, but: this is what must be. Trinket had wanted to please her, Percy, she knows, likes to see her happy with all the gifts he’s given her. If she asks him right he does things he’d refuse to otherwise - and he is too easily scared right now for her to dare being forceful. 

“Please, darling? I need them.”

He’s frowning but he rises, unfolding to his full height. His steps are lilting, listing, stumbling and a little uncertain, none of his usual well-coordinated grace and posture. Yet another thing the Feeblemind has taken from him. He frowns harder at the table but picks up a piece of metal in one hand. 

“Yes,” she says. “Very good. Can you give it to me, darling?”

She extends a beckoning hand through the bars and Percy steps back towards her willingly.

“I won’t hurt you,” she says. “I swear I won’t, darling, not ever. Will you give it to me, Percy?”

There’s a wary hesitance as he holds it out - some kind of crooked needle-pointed thing, almost exactly what she needs - and when she goes to take it he’s slow to let it go.

“Percy,” she says, firmly enough he listens and looks at her. “It’s all right. I won’t hurt you.” She lifts a hand, caresses the cheek she healed and he leans into the touch with a soft noise. “Give it to me?” she asks, gently tugging, and he lets go of the implement.  _ “Thank you,” _ she says, nothing but gratitude in her voice and the smile that spreads across his face is beautifully, uncomplicatedly,  _ happy. _ “Darling?” she asks, and his eyes go from contentedly half-shut to fully open in a moment.

Even Feebleminded, Percy isn’t stupid. Percy isn’t slow.

“I need another one.” She gestures to the table again. “Will you get me one?”

He goes much more willingly then.

* * *

It takes several trips. Percy is even more hesitant to hand over what he collects when it’s scalpels or sharp things and frankly Vex can’t blame him but under the circumstances she hardly wants him to keep ahold of them either. There’s an all too real possibility that, like this, he might hurt himself and Vex only has so much magic.

Eventually though, she has enough to try the lock. After everything it’s almost appallingly easy: the door swings open after only four tries and two broken tools.

“Percy,” Vex says, dropping the makeshift picks. “Come here.”

He does, he comes willingly, and when she folds him in her arms his own wrap around her fiercely, his face pressed to her neck.

“It’s all right,” she whispers. Tears are pricking her eyes again, but she feels far more sure now. She’s out of the cell. Her gear and Percy’s is within reach.

The dungeon door  _ isn’t locked. _

She sways from foot to foot, sighs gently, combs one hand through Percy’s hair. He hums softly against her neck, a warm damp breath, and for a moment she simply appreciates it, the comfort and the giving of comfort. But: Percy is still naked, they’re in Ripley’s dungeon, they need to get out.

“Come on,” she says, drawing slowly away. Percy’s hand fists in her shirt and when she looks at him his expression is stricken. “Shh. Shh. It’s all right.” He watches her, blinking, but his hand loosens enough for her to take it in hers. “Come on,” she says again, and leads him to their things.

* * *

The first things she takes up are his glasses. He recoils, briefly, when she reaches for his face, but he relaxes trustingly after a moment and lets her slide them on. He blinks, once, twice, then  _ beams _ at her, simply joyous.

“Yeah,” she says. “There we go. Better?”

If the way Percy leans towards her is any indication, yes.

“Okay,” she says. “Good.”

It’s a matter of moments to pick up her own things and put on her bracers, her quiver belt, to sling her bow over her back and to pocket her picks and her purse. Then she turns to Percy’s things. 

Most are hopeless. Vex suspects that was part of the point of Ripley peeling his clothes off him with a scalpel - instilling terror and making it yet harder on Percy’s dignity. 

Good thing Vex doesn’t give a damn about dignity right now.

His coat at least is intact. His ascot too, and his mask and his gloves. His boots. Vex’s small pack has a spare shirt - overlarge and stolen from Vax years ago - and with that, the remnants of Percy’s clothes, and some creative knotwork Vex manages to give Percy a kilt, a shirt and his coat. She shoves his gloves and his ascot into his pockets, hangs the mask around her own neck. Percy reaches for it, briefly, fingers tracing the beak.

“I know,” she says, gently. “I know it’s yours, darling, but you didn’t like me reaching for your face earlier so let’s wait to get you back to yourself, all right?”

She hoists Bad News over her shoulder and pokes through what little remains. Ripley, damn her, seems to have reclaimed Retort, the one gun Vex might have felt some confidence using - her bow in close spaces is more a nuisance than a help - and once more Vex curses her. Percy’s bag of shot, his own small purse, his Diplomacy gauntlet, sketchbook and pencils, all the various other small things he keeps on him, Vex struggles and juggles with, finding places to stow them all. After a minute of patient struggle she manages to get Percy’s boots on his feet - he seems more comfortable with some barrier against the cold stone floor. 

Vex refuses to leave anything for Ripley to find.

Percy watches her, alternatingly bemused and uncertain, but when she reaches for his hand to pull him close he reaches back and goes willingly.

“Stay close,” she murmurs as they near the door. She cups his cheek with one hand and he leans into her touch. “All right? I need you to stay close. No wandering off, all right, darling?”

He hums, nuzzles her hand, and Vex sighs, strokes his cheek once again and goes and cracks the door open.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are ever appreciated.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ripley did _this_ to Percy, and she can’t be allowed to live.

There’s no one outside. Honestly, given that Ripley left Percy loose and the door unlocked, Vex isn’t entirely surprised, though she’s certainly grateful her assumptions have proven true. Ripley is very sure of herself, sceptical of the full extent of Percy’s intelligence, and even more so of Vex’s.

_ Well, _ Vex thinks.  _ This is what you get for doubting me. Serves you bloody right. _

She creeps along the hall, steady and quiet, close to the wall. Once Percy, following close behind her, is far enough along, she creeps back and shuts the dungeon door. Best that if Ripley goes by she doesn’t realise they’re out. Percy looks on in silence, watching her with an open, trusting softness she doesn’t think she’s ever seen on his face. It makes something in her heart ache to see him stripped bare of his usual masks and courtesies, the things that make him  _ him, _ and instead left naked and bare of them by the whim of someone else.

It’s always been one thing to see the cracks in Percy’s masks, be it due to stress and upset such that he can’t keep them in place, because she’s startled him with some display of affection or other, or simply because he decides to  _ let _ them see in, the scarce few times he’s been vulnerable around them. It’s another thing entirely to see him without not by choice but because someone  _ took _ them from him. 

She has some idea what those masks and courtesies mean to Percy, beyond just civility and manners and the expectations of someone born to his station in life. She clings to her own for much the same reasons, after all.

“Come on,” she says, voice cracking but voice  _ soft _ , and he frowns at her before reaching out. She catches his hand before he can touch her cheek. “Come on,” she says, more surely. “Let’s get going, darling. Let’s see if we can find a way out and the others, or at least a way to kill her, all right?”

In her grip, his thumb strokes her fingers, soft and gentle.

* * *

The basement they’re in is strange and sprawling but they find the stairs soon enough. For all Percy’s stumbling earlier he’s found his stride again and the steps don’t present near the trouble Vex had feared they might. He clings to her arm, his hand holding hers tight, but honestly, she’d rather that, right now, the reassurance of his presence and the knowledge that he’s there, and that, if he should stumble, she can stop him from falling.

There’s a door at the top of the stairs as well, and Vex pauses by it, listening carefully. There’s no noise beyond and so, tentatively, she pushes it open. It squeaks a little, but as she peers out, she sees no sign of anyone. Door open, she can hear a little noise down one end of the hall - something not dissimilar to the noise Percy makes when toiling away in his workshop - but other than that, it’s quiet.

She pauses. She considers. Really, in truth, she wants little more than to get them both  _ out _ and both  _ away. _ Staying here won’t do Percy any good and she really doesn’t want to chance both of them falling back into Ripley’s hands.

But Ripley did  _ this _ to Percy, and she can’t be allowed to live.

Vex lets go of Percy’s hand, pulls her bow over her shoulder, and nocks an arrow. She recognises the fletching her fingers find - it’s an explosive one.

* * *

She doesn’t let Ripley speak. That was what Percy had always said even if he could never keep to it himself. To not let her speak, to not engage with her, to not give her a chance to worm her way in and act. Instead, Vex aims and shoots from the doorway. Ripley stumbles, the arrow sparks, ignites, explodes and Ripley  _ screams _ as the shoulder of her metal arm is blown to pieces. Percy, behind her, flinches.

Ripley stumbles, falls, but Vex already has two more arrows ready and fires them one-two. At this range, after that explosion, it’s easy to aim between ribs. Ripley crumples, her flesh hand just barely clutching her worktop. Vex crosses to her, a scalpel from the dungeon in her hand and makes absolutely sure she’s dead. With a gurgle, a brief spurt of blood and then a dribble, Anna Ripley dies.

When she rises Percy’s stood in the doorway, eyes on Ripley’s body. Carefully she steps into his sightline, calls his name.

“Percy? Darling?”

He looks at her, glances back to Ripley’s body, and then back to her. Vex takes a step forward and, mercy of mercies, he stays put. 

“It’s all right, darling.” She reaches out, touches his cheek. There’s a speck of blood on her fingers but he doesn’t seem to notice, doesn’t seem to mind. He leans into her touch as readily as every other time he has so far. “It’s all right.” He sighs as she steps closer, leans against her and when she wraps her arms around him, turning them so he can’t see Ripley, he turns willingly and wraps his own arms around her. 

For a while Vex stays there, arms around Percy and Percy’s arms around her, before she sighs and lets go. Uncertainly, Percy follows suit.

“Come on,” she says. “Let’s find a way out of here. Let’s find the others.”

* * *

They’re halfway down a corridor, heading towards what Vex  _ thinks _ might be the atrium of this whole damn place when she hears it, clear as day in her ear.

_ “For fuck’s sakes-”  _

She jumps about a foot in the air, Percy behind her likewise startled, his hand gripping hers instinctively.  _ Vax. _ That was- that was Vax. There’s no way in the world she’d mistake his voice. It’s gone now, but- she knows she heard it. Percy, when she glances to him, is looking confused, head tilted toward the side he usually wears his earring on-

The earrings. She reaches for hers, touching a finger to the copper of it. 

“Vax?” It’s a whisper, barely audible, but only a moment later there’s a response.

“Stubby?”

_ Oh thank god. _

“It’s me.”

It’s only a moment more before she hears them all clamouring in her ear. From Percy’s confused expression he’s hearing them too and she squeezes his hand before responding.

“Guys,” she says. “Guys, one at a time.”

“Are you all right?” It’s Vax’s voice, quick and breathless and so full of  _ hope _ and god but she misses him. “Is Percival?”

“I’m fine,” she says. “Percy is-”

She glances over at him, where he watches her silently, confused but attentive at the sound of his name. She hears Keyleth draw breath, about to speak.

“He’s alive,” she says quickly. “He’s not hurt. But-”

It’s Scanlan’s voice next, quiet and deadly calm in a way she’s only rarely heard. “What did she do?”

“Feeblemind,” she says. “She- she Feebleminded him. She hurt him. I healed him but I can’t- I don’t have the magic to get rid of that.”

“I do.” Keyleth’s voice is shaken but sure. “Where are you?”

She glances down the hall, glances to Percy. He seems calmer now they’re speaking one at a time, and soothed at least by Keyleth’s voice, his eyes half-closed, his thumb rubbing small circles on the skin of her hand.

“Inside,” she says, “In a hall somewhere. Not in the damn dungeon anymore, that’s for sure.”

She hears, down the earring, the familiar sound of her brother grinding his teeth. “See if you can get outside.” Vax’s voice is gentle. “Keep Percival close. Keep talking to us so we know if you go out of range and tell us which direction you’re going.”

“Currently going east,” she says. “Trying to find an exit.”

“You’ll find it Stubby. Or we’ll find you.” 

She appreciates Vax’s tone. Sometimes his stubbornness is a pain in the ass, but right now-

Right now, his stubborn determination is comforting. 

“Vex?” It’s Grog’s voice, simple and sure. 

“Yes, Grog?”

“If you find her,  _ paste her.” _

She laughs at that, nervous but true, and squeezes Percy’s hand when he startles. “I just did,” she says, raw and grateful and  _ hoping _ now she hears their voices all again. “Believe me, I just did.”

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave comments! Or come and yell at me on [tumblr](https://essayofthoughts.tumblr.com/)!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Given what Ripley put him through she’s not going to refuse him company.

“Don’t crowd,” Vex says, as soon as she spots the others. She can see on Vax’s face how much he wants to hug her but Percy’s right beside her, leaning against her shoulder, his hand tight in hers. “Don’t- he’s easily spooked right now. Don’t crowd.”

Grog stays back, for once mindful of his looming size. Vax, antsy, lingers as close as he dares, Scanlan close by as well. Keyleth steps tentatively forward and though Percy doesn’t flinch his hand in hers flexes nervously. 

“Hey,” she murmurs, turning to him. His eyes fix on her face quickly. “It’s okay, darling. It’s only Keyleth.”

He doesn’t ease too terribly much but when Keyleth takes her next step forward he doesn’t try to move away. Vax, too, edges closer and Percy, barely audible, hums a soft high whine and leans against her back.

“Guys.” Vex keeps her voice quiet but firm as she speaks to the others but doesn’t let go of Percy’s hand. He’d ducked halfway behind her when they’d charged over and though his grip on her hand has relaxed he hasn’t moved back beside her. “Space. Percy’s as easily spooked as when we first found him.”

Keyleth is staring, stricken. Vex knows well why: Percy and Keyleth are best friends, as close as siblings, and she knows him better than most. 

“Can I-” Keyleth starts, trailing off. She lifts her hands, waggles her fingers, small sparks of green magic in her palms. Vex feels Percy flinch more than sees it, and glances between them.

“I think-” she starts, then pauses. Keyleth shakily nods.

“I think we’re still crowding him,” Keyleth says. “Let’s just- Scanlan, why don’t you make the mansion here? Then you guys can go and see what we can get from Ripley’s place and Vex and I can take care of Percy.”

Scanlan, Vex knows, is about two seconds from making some ungodly innuendo about the two of them and Percy and with the memory of what Ripley did still fresh in her mind, she glares. Scanlan’s joking look vanishes. 

“Yeah, all right,” he says. “All right. You need anything before we go? Or just the mansion?”

“Just the mansion,” Keyleth says, catching Vex’s eye. They both understand why the mansion is needed: a safe, secure, _familiar_ space, with a workshop he knows and a bedroom that’s his; places he can avoid everyone in. They know Percy’s coping mechanisms well by now.

“We’ll need Percy’s spare clothes from the Bag,” Vex adds. “Ripley ruined his.”

“Did wonder why he was going chicken-legs in this weather,” Vax says as Grog goes fishing through the Bag. “You’re going to be all right?”

Vex half turns to take in Percy’s face - still nervous but more relaxed now Scanlan’s turned away to spell up the doorway, now Grog seems occupied by something else, now Keyleth’s hands are down, no hint of magic.

“Yeah,” she says. “Yeah, we’ll be fine.”

* * *

The mansion is cool and familiar inside, but for a moment Keyleth and Vex just stand there, staring around, Percy still clung close to Vex’s side.

“Hey,” she says softly. “It’s all right.” Carefully, gently, she untangles their hands and Percy startles, tries to reach, but Keyleth’s there quickly, a hand on his, the fingers of her other hand rubbing gently at his shoulder in motions clearly familiar. For a moment Vex waits, hands half lifted to her pendant but when Percy soothes at Keyleth’s presence, Keyleth’s touch, his eyes half-closing and no sounds of distress, she takes a further step away, cupping her hands around her pendant and focussing. 

Trinket bursts into the room, quiet for all his size, and though Percy jumps he seems almost to smile when Trinket ambles over to lick his face, and Keyleth’s, and Vex’s. For once, Vex lets him. 

“Stay down here,” she says to him. “Keep an eye out for Vax, all right, buddy? Give a roar when they all get back.”

Trinket huffs a breath, licks her face again, and plants himself firmly beside the doorway - well able to see whomever might enter, but out of their immediate line of sight. 

“Thanks, buddy.”

It’s without really discussing it that she and Keyleth make their way upstairs, Percy trailing along readily in their wake. His workshop is closer, downstairs, but honestly after everything Vex imagines Percy is going to want the privacy of his own room more than a place to work. The workshop is equal parts a place for privacy and for purpose; after what Ripley did to him, just as after what the poachers had tried to do to her those years ago, she knows very well the desire for a safe, secure, known place where one can simply _hide_ without pressure to do anything else.

The fact that Scanlan might make jokes later, if or when he finds out from his translucent servants, is a problem for then. She has more than enough glares saved up to stop him. 

Percy’s room isn’t that different from most of theirs; Vex suspects that, other than Pike’s and his own, Scanlan left the rest largely the same though she’s not unaware of the small slow shifts the rooms seem to be making to accommodate them all. The nest of pillows in her room where Trinket sleeps, the desk here in Percy’s where she quickly sets down Bad News and what else of his things she can quickly retrieve from bags and pockets - the mask from around her neck. 

She unloads everything she can quickly, setting her own things down on the desk too. When she turns back, Percy’s looking around the room curiously, one of his hands still in Keyleth’s but a step further away, seemingly comfortable in their company and this space. Vex doesn’t entirely dare hope everything is going to be fine yet but… it’s promising.

“I’m going to run a bath,” she says quietly. “She had a _dungeon;_ I think he’s going to want to wash that off him once he’s back to himself.”

Keyleth, thankfully, accepts the reasoning without question and Vex leaves Percy in her able hands.

With the magic of the mansion a bath is easy to sort; Vex checks the temperature with her hand and aims more for scalding than warm.

When she returns though, Percy seems agitated. He’s looking around more rapidly, turning on his heel and even Keyleth’s hand on his shoulder isn’t soothing him.

“Percy,” Vex says and his eyes fix on her once more, wide and blue and clearly scared. “Come here, darling. It’s all right.” She opens her arms and he folds against her, his arms wrapping around her as hers wrap around him, his face buried against her neck again. “It’s all right,” she says again, soft and soothing, looking over his shoulder at Keyleth and blinking, eyes darting down in as clear a nod she can give without actually moving her head. “It’s all right, darling. No one here will hurt you.”

Keyleth’s hands glow a soft green-gold, soft and bright as sunlight through new beech leaves, diffuse but clear, warm and gentle, and when she presses her hands to Percy’s back he makes a small sound, a small huff of noise against her neck before seeming to relax more completely, even the humming tension of his hug eased to something more restful. Keyleth pulls her hands back and for a moment he stays put, relaxed and calmed before she feels him stiffen.

“Vex?” he says, uncertain, a little confused, and Vex hugs him briefly tighter before stepping back. Percy’s arms fall willingly. “I-”

“What do you remember, darling?”

He hesitates - not uncertain, Vex thinks, but unwilling to share his memories. She half-turns, looks at Keyleth. After a moment the druid nods.

“I’ll go,” Keyleth says. “Let the others know.” Briefly she steps forward, her arms wrapping around Percy in a crushing hug. Vex can hear his exhale at the force of it but she can see his smile too, at the affection, at Keyleth, for all his awkwardness. 

She waits for Keyleth to go, the door shut behind the other woman, before she speaks.

“What do you remember?” she asks again. 

“Enough,” Percy says, something tired and raw to his voice. “I-” He trails off, something awful to his expression and Vex decides to change tacks.

“I ran a bath for you,” she says gently. “After-” She waves a hand. “I thought you might want one, given what Ripley-”

She doesn’t finish the sentence. Percy’s face - carefully, neutrally calm with only slight signs of tension - twists to something horrible and she reaches for his shoulder without thinking. After a moment his hand finds hers, resting gently atop it. Given recent events, given how private Percy usually is, it’s striking - or maybe not, given how affectionate he was under the Feeblemind.

“A good thought,” Percy says, bringing her back to earth. His fingers stroke briefly over hers and he swallows before speaking again, sounding perhaps a little choked. “That’s- thank you. Vex-”

He pauses, mouth still working as though there’s something more to say, but no sound comes out.

“Come on,” she says gently. “Let’s get you taken care of, all right darling?”

His fingers slide to her wrist when she lifts her hand away and he doesn’t let go as she leads him through to the bathroom. He only lets go to shuck clothes and Vex decides to turn, to give him privacy in that given how much he’s been denied it of late. She hears him huff a sarcastic laugh before lowering himself into the water.

“Do you want me to go?” she asks. He hasn’t _told_ her to leave but also… it’s Percy, one of the most private of them all. It’s Percy, the politest of them all, who avoids being an imposition or showing a lot of emotion when he can. 

It’s Percy, who still isn’t fully back to his usual self after what Ripley did and she tries not to startle when his fingers snag her wrist.

“No,” he says quickly. “Please. Stay.”

There’s nothing hesitant to his voice at all; when she looks at his face his gaze is clear.

She doesn’t know why he wants her to stay but given what Ripley put him through she’s not going to refuse him company. Honestly she’s not sure she _could_ \- she wants reassurance he’s going to be okay before she’ll feel even remotely calm about today. She’s aware she may never get that reassurance and she sits down beside the bathtub to keep him company. It’s the least she can do - for her nerves and his. She has no idea what Percy’s thinking, no idea how to help, but if company is what he needs she’ll gladly give it.

“I’m sorry,” Percy says softly and it almost startles her. He’s not looking at her but his fingers are gentle on her wrist and he’s drawing patterns over her skin almost absentmindedly. “That you had to see that.”

“No,” she says immediately. “Percy, no, it’s not your fault-”

“I know,” he says, and he’s still not looking at her. “She’d Feebleminded me; there was nothing I could have done. But I’m still sorry you had to see that.”

She doesn’t know what to say to that.

“I’m sorry you had to go through that,” she says eventually. She doesn’t say what she’d guessed - that it wasn’t the first time - nor that she’s sorry he had to endure that too, but she thinks he knows. His hand slips from her wrist to squeeze hers. “Hey,” she says, trying to pull his attention away from the worst of it. “At least she’s dead.”

He barks a laugh, abrupt and humourless, but there’s a smile on his face now, clear enough she can see it even though he’s still not looking at her. 

“Yes,” he says. “Thank you for that.”

For a while there’s silence and Percy doesn’t let go of her wrist. He’s making no move to scrub clean either, just sitting in the scalding hot water as his glasses fog and his skin gets redder and redder. 

“I wish you hadn’t seen it,” Percy says softly and his hand’s not returned to her wrist now but stays holding hers. She glances over to him. 

“I wish she hadn’t done it,” Vex says and Percy barks another humourless laugh.

“Me too,” he says. “But that doesn’t change it, does it? If wishes were horses and all that. And… I really _do_ wish you hadn’t seen it.”

There’s an emphasis there that she’s not entirely sure what to make of, and while she can hardly blame him for having a complicated mess of emotions right now she wishes she knew better what to do to help. She settles for squeezing his hand. 

“I’d forget it if I could,” she says honestly. “But- Percy, it’s not your fault. I’m not going to think less of you for something she did.” Percy’s pulling a face almost as though he’s about to argue back on that point and she squeezes his hand again. “If I’m going to think less of anyone for it it’s her and honestly, I don’t think I _can_ think any less of her; she was _awful.”_

Percy sputters a laugh at that, something more genuine and with a hint of actual humour and Vex can’t help but smile at that - more so when the slight smile of his laugh doesn’t fade immediately. 

“That’s fair,” he says. “And- thank you.” There’s a painful earnestness to his expression when he turns to look at her, no masks obscuring what he means. Percy’s usually sincere in thanks and apologies even if he hides it behind formality but there’s none of that formality in evidence here. “For everything.”

She doesn’t have to guess what he means. For getting them out. For killing Ripley. For not telling the others and for getting them to give him space. 

“Darling,” she says, lifting her free hand to cup his cheek. She doesn’t fully expect how he leans into it. “Of course.”

It’s almost like when he was under the Feeblemind again, the simple trust in his gaze, the readiness with which he leans into the affection. She wonders if, perhaps, he didn’t seek the bath to scrub clean of all Ripley had done but simply for the scalding, grounding _heat_ of it, a burning warmth that anchors him in the present instead of in memory. Gently, she rubs her thumb over his cheek and he sighs the softest breath across her palm before pulling away. 

“I suppose I should try to get clean,” he says. “One moment.” It’s with a deep breath beforehand that he dunks himself fully underwater, sinking beneath the surface in a single motion before rising again. His glasses, briefly removed to the safety of his hand, are neatly perched on his nose again in moments. 

He scrubs himself over briskly, not lingering as she half-thought he might to try to scrub away any sense of Ripley’s touch. He scratches briefly down his forearms, red lines rising against the pink skin of his wrists in the heat but it seems more a move meant to anchor than to hurt. He sinks back into the water with a sigh, his head canted back against the edge of the tub.

For a while it’s quiet, almost peaceful, but Vex still feels off-kilter from it all and can’t really imagine Percy feels much better.

She’s not sure she should really ask, though.

Instead they sit in silence, the occasional soft sound of water splashing when Percy shifts in the bath, the sound of their breathing and little more. Percy is quiet too, but when she glances at him he looks pensive and a little uncertain; as though he too wants to speak but doesn’t entirely know what to say. So she speaks.

“Are you going to be all right?” she asks, voice quieter than she intends. Percy huffs a dry laugh.

“Probably,” he says. “Eventually. As all right as I ever am, I suppose.” He cracks an eye open, lifts a finger. “And I know not to make deals in dreams with demons now.”

She laughs a little at that too and when she looks back at him Percy’s looking at her with that same strange softness he has, the one she doesn’t entirely know what to make of.

“I’ve wondered about it before, you know,” he says softly. “I think the, ah- the Feeblemind almost makes it easier to bear, in a way. If I were myself, I- when I’m- when you’re under Feeblemind, you’re not really you. Without your mind you’re little more than an animal and under those circumstances-” He pauses, swallows. “There’s not really much you can do, then. And that is- that is easier to bear, I think, vague incomplete memories that lack complex thought. If I were- if I had been myself I don’t know what kind of a state I’d be in.”

No. No, she can’t really imagine either. She’s not entirely sure she wants to.

Percy lets out a long breath, lets his hand rest on the lip of the bath. “I-” he says, stuttering and uncertain. “Would you-”

She shifts closer, taking his hand in hers and he tangibly relaxes. 

“Thank you,” he says. He laughs self-deprecatingly. “I don’t know what’s come over me,” he admits. “I’m not usually so-” He lifts their linked hands.

_Touchy-feely._

“No,” she agrees. “But that’s okay.” She pauses, uncertain, but- he seems to have the memories, even if they’re distinct to him. “You were affectionate under the Feeblemind too, you know.” He glances to her, brow furrowed as though uncertain as to where she’s going with this and she shrugs. “I think you wanted the reassurance of-” Of someone he was familiar with? Felt safe with? Someone who wouldn’t hurt him?

“Of someone I trust,” he says softly. “That makes sense.” His smile is small and genuine as he squeezes her hand. “You’ve always been good company. Even when I’ve been at my worst.”

She wishes she knew better what to say when Percy says things like that, quietly honest words that are what he tends towards in place of physical affection.

“Yeah, well,” she says after a moment. “I figure your animal brain is still a bit of a mess after what Ripley did. So if me being here helps-”

“It does,” he says quickly. “Very much. But I- you don’t have to-”

“Percy,” she says, clasping his hand tight. “It’s okay.” She doesn’t really know how to tell him that she’d rather stay nearby, make sure he’s okay, but Percy, as ever, seems to understand. He sighs, tension bleeding out of his shoulders, his thumb brushing once-twice over the back of her hand.

“Thank you,” he says after a moment. 

_For helping. For staying. For keeping me company._ She and Percy have gotten very good at reading between one another’s lines. Gently she squeezes his hand and for a while they sit there in silence. The water lapping at the edge of the bath, moved by Percy’s breath, the sounds of their breathing - but nothing else in the peaceful silence of the mansion. It’s soothing.

Still, she wants to know if he’s doing all right. If he’s going to _be_ all right.

“Does it help?” she asks nodding to the bath.

Percy starts slightly, surprised out of thought, but nods. “It helps,” he says. He lifts their joined hands. “So does this. It’s- it’s anchoring. Without it I’d be-”

He trails off, but Vex can guess. Without an anchor a ship will drift. Percy’s never spoken much of how he was after escaping the Briarwoods but if he was anything like this, then, if he was without friends or allies- she can’t imagine how long and how completely he drifted before he came back to himself. Long enough for Orthax to get his claws into him. Gently she squeezes his hand and they fall once more to silence.

“I’m sorry,” Percy says after a stretch. “I’m hardly a sterling conversationalist right now.”

“Darling,” she says, long and soft, drawn out. “Darling, no. It’s not your fault. Not after Ripley.” Percy looks sceptical and she makes herself laugh. “It’s not as though I’m the best conversationalist right now either, am I?”

He huffs a laugh at that, acquiescence more than agreement, and squeezes her hand.

“Still,” he says. “Thank you. I’m hardly the most thrilling company now and I know you must want to loot that place yourself-” Honestly, Vex thinks, looting Ripley’s base has been the furthest thing from her mind “-so…” Percy lifts their joined hands. “Thank you.” His gaze is even and open when his eyes meet her. “It means a great deal.”

“Darling,” she says again, letting it out like a breath, lifting her free hand to cup his cheek. Once again he leans into her touch easily. “Of course.”

It’s almost like the Feeblemind again, but now Vex thinks this may just be how Percy is when so stripped-raw and vulnerable none of his usual defences are in place. The easy trust in his gaze, the way he leans into her touch, into the press of her lips to his cheek-

She doesn’t expect him turning to face her, for his lips to press to hers. It’s brief and soft, not tentative until she pulls back as she ever has and Percy draws a quick gasping breath as though surprised at himself.

“I’m sorry,” he’s saying. “I shouldn’t have-”

But there’s something besides just fear or embarrassment to his gaze and in his voice, something akin to the strange softness and-

He’d kissed her. Percy’s never affectionate without reason; he’s almost never affectionate at all. He’s still stuttering out apologies and she strokes his cheek once more to try to soothe him, leans to kiss him again and when her lips meet his he lets out a small hitching breath and kisses back. His other hand, still dripping wet from the water, finds her cheek, tangles in her hair and they pause, breathing hard, inches from each other’s faces.

“Percy-” Vex doesn’t know what to make of the situation, not entirely. That Percy had kissed her was certain, that he responded when she kissed him, that too, but- what Ripley had- “Are you _sure?”_ she asks because she has to know what it is he means by this, what his intent is with this, if it’s meant solely as reclamation of himself or-

She doesn’t want to let herself hope.

“Vex,” he says, and there’s something rough to his voice but not raw. Not the fear-horror-uncertainty of before. “I-” He gives a small self-deprecating laugh. “I imagine the depths of my regard for you is obvious now, given-” He doesn’t have to mention the Feeblemind; she understands regardless. “I won’t pretend that recent events don’t play a part, that-” He pauses, uncertain, eyes fixed on her but something genuine in his gaze as he struggles to find the words. He shrugs expansively, his thumb stroking over her cheekbone. “That there aren’t many factors. But, ah-” He pauses, mouth working. “Sufficeth to say, I have cared about you for a very very long time.”

For a moment Vex is too startled by the idea that this is something Percy has _thought_ about, wanted, that he-

“Oh,” she says, soft and taken aback. Percy’s thumb is still gentle on her cheekbone. “You’re sure?” she asks, less worriedly and Percy nods, half-wordless, mouth working to find an answer and-

Well, she kisses him again. How can she not, knowing he’s wanted this for a while, knowing Percy, so prone to overthinking, has _thought_ about this - thought and never said. That he- there’s a lot of ways he could mean it. Percy’s good with words. Maybe it’s not what she hopes, what he’s mostly implied. Maybe, maybe, _maybe._

But she doesn’t think it’s that. Percy’s always been honest with her, open in a way he isn’t with most people. Honestly, this makes more things make sense as-is than if she second-guesses him.

Besides- she wants this too. She has for a while. And if, right now, it will help him, if he wants it, seeks it, then she’s going to go for it, for both of them. She licks into his mouth and he groans, his hand letting go of hers to brace against the tub edge, pulling himself closer, water sloshing over the rim to wet the knees of Vex’s leggings.

He kisses back no less eagerly.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave comments!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The memories of what Ripley did are still there but they’re fuzzed behind the memory of Feeblemind and he wants them _gone,_ erased behind something chosen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Three things before we start today. Firstly, Percy doesn't always have the best coping mechanisms and while some people might seek to reclaim themselves after events such as Percy does here not all do! Do not take this as advice; healing is done at one's own pace and in one's own way.
> 
> Secondly, this chapter is basically entirely smutty smut smut and I've raised the rating to Mature. I don't _think_ it's so much as to require the explicit rating; I keep enough things pretty vague but still, some of you might not care for this chapter and want to wait for next week and this fic's final chapter. 
> 
> Lastly, for those of you uninterested in today's chapter, might I point you to another fic I posted recently? A genfic character study kind of thing about Cassandra and Desmond, [need not be spoken](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27514945).

Percy knows he’s a mess; much as he may want to think otherwise he’s not going to deny how much of a wreck he is right now. This is far from the best decision he could make but sometimes adrenaline fuelled decisions are the only ones he can make - are the best options to hand. Vex isn’t hesitating to kiss him, is kissing him as eagerly as he is her which is honestly more than he ever could have hoped. The memories of what Ripley did are still there but they’re fuzzed behind the memory of Feeblemind and he wants them  _ gone, _ erased behind something chosen.

When their attempts to move still closer while kissing prompts a splash of water and a frustrated noise from Vex he rises and she follows, her hands falling to his hips as he steps out of the bath. She makes no mention of his obvious arousal, just presses close to him and tugs him towards the door.

He has no objections whatsoever.

They stumble through to the other room, Percy’s thumbs on her hipbones, Vex wrestling with her clothes as they go - “Why did I put my bracers back on?!” - and Percy can’t help but laugh, can’t help but pause to cup her face and kiss her because  _ god _ but he loves her, in every part. He pauses a moment, his forehead pressed against hers because he  _ is _ a mess right now but he doesn’t want Vex to think he’s anything but sincere in what he feels. 

There are flickering fears still in his head but they ease with Vex’s kisses, with familiar surroundings, with the clean scent of the mansion’s soap and the beeswax Vex uses on her bowstring in his nose.

Vex treads her way out of her leggings as they cross the room, leaving the cloth splayed on the floor for him to step over as he follows, and when they reach the bed she pulls him down after her. He catches himself from falling onto her just barely, but Vex’s arms rise to wrap around him, pulling him close and when she kisses him he cannot help his groan and reaches one hand to touch her. He’s careful in his touch, a little uncertain, but Vex’s knees bracket his hips, her hands pull him closer and when he reaches between her legs he feels gathering slickness against her skin. Vex’s hips jolt into his touch as she moans, and he marks the shape of her, fingers sliding around, in, her warmth around his fingers. He groans to feel it, Vex moans against his lips and when he takes himself in hand to line himself up, her slickness on his fingers, sliding against his skin makes him moan.

“Percy,” Vex says, and her hand is gentle on his cheek, her eyes bright as they stare into his. “Come here.”

As he pushes in, Vex’s hips lift to his; as she wraps her legs around his hips he can hear her soft gasps and her hand is still there, soft and gentle on his cheek. His head falls forward, his lips pressing kisses to the skin of her shoulder and collarbone and for a moment he doesn’t entirely dare to move.

There are memories in his head, fleeting snippets with no context, words he had not the mind to make sense of at the time and so has lost, but Vex’s hands are gentle, the positions are reversed, he is safe, he is safe and he chooses this. He  _ wants _ this as he did not that.

“Vex-”

“I’ve got you.”

He pulls out, pushes in, tries to find a pace that suits them both but he feels not unlike Vex’s bowstring at full stretch, as though his self-control could shatter at any moment and it’s a battle to focus on anything more than just sensation. He feels one of Vex’s hands slide from his back, the other going to his hip; when he cracks his eyes open he sees her beneath him, one hand playing with her nipple and he groans, dipping his head to her skin, kissing and suckling and when she arches into his mouth as much as the thrusts of his hips he feels a deeper satisfaction than just the thrum of tension and swath of sensation. He’ll have a crick in his neck later, but he can’t bring himself to care.

He wants, so much, to gather Vex to him, to hold her close, but it’s hard to do that and give her the attention he so wants to give, to keep himself braced above her as he must. Vex’s arms wrap around him and her legs, pulling him close, and he presses to her as she directs until she gasps, trembling against him.

“Yes,” she says, half a breath. “Yes, like that.”

He tries again to no avail, and again, and again, because much as he wants this to wipe away bad memories he wants this to be a good one for Vex as best he can. When next she gasps and trembles he marks it carefully, every movement and sensation, how her fingers dig into the muscles of his back, how she feels around him and when he tries to replicate it this time he’s met with more success.

Vex’s lips are warm along his shoulder, kissing and occasionally sucking, almost mirroring the attention he’s trying to pay her. When her teeth graze his skin he moans, when they dig fleetingly into his neck he cries out; when her tongue smooths over the bite and she sucks on the tender skin he cannot help his groan.

There is pleasure from that, and he moves more into her reach when he can. There is pleasure from the movements of their hips, Vex’s legs pulling him closer and closer with each thrust. There is pleasure, simple and honest, from each of the small noises he hears from Vex, each gasp and moan and he strives to hear more over the noise of their bodies against each other. 

Vex’s legs tremble where they’re locked around his waist. He knows he’s trembling too, but he knows it almost distantly, focussed more on the building pleasure, on Vex. He hears her voice - his name, small directions he does his best to follow - feels her trembling, feels the pressure of her around him. Hears her cry out, her legs pulling him so close the heels of her feet are pressed into the small of his back, and when next she cries out he feels her around him, pressing close and utter and pulling him over the edge soon thereafter.

He almost collapses on top of her when he’s done but Vex seems ready for that, using the leverage of her arms and legs wrapped around him to roll them onto their sides. Percy presses close, using his arm slung over her side to embrace her. Vex’s limbs loosen their grip but don’t untangle from him entirely and when he nuzzles into her shoulder, eyes half-closing, he hears her softly laugh, feels as she plucks his glasses from his face.

He blinks blearily at her but soothes from startlement when she kisses him, her mouth soft and gentle on his.

“Rest,” she says. “You’ve earned it.”

He’s not wholly sure that’s true but he’s too tired to argue - and he doesn’t want to argue with Vex besides. He finds her hand, interlinks their fingers.

“Stay?” he asks, eyes already trying to close. “Please?” He feels Vex’s lips on his.

“All right,” she says. “All right.”

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave comments!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Staying is probably a bad idea. But she’s not going to leave him now. 

Percy falls into sleep quickly enough and Vex can’t blame him. The stress of a fight, of Ripley, of coming out of Feeblemind - all of that would be reason enough to collapse with exhaustion. As she watches, the last of the stress seems to slowly bleed away; though his arm is wrapped around her, his fingers intertwined with hers, neither are restricting. She’s glad of that; it gives her a moment to disentangle herself once she’s sure he won’t wake up, to clean herself up, pull some clothes on and set her gear aside as though on purpose. 

By the time she settles herself beside Percy, pulling the covers over him to hide his nakedness, the room looks about as close to normal as she can make it. Percy’s eyes don’t open but he shifts towards her just a little and when she takes hold of his hand his fingers tangle with hers once more. 

Staying is probably a bad idea. But she’s not going to leave him now. 

For all that’s recently transpired, for all she knows from those nights they’ve camped on the road that Percy is rarely an easy sleeper, he seems too exhausted for nightmares for once. Though she keeps a close eye out for any sign of upset once she’s sat beside him, his hand in hers, the furrow on his brow relaxes. It’s oddly peaceful to sit next to him, to be given time to process all that has happened, as she waits for Trinket’s roar to mark the others’ return.

* * *

For once Vax knocks before letting himself in; his head pokes around the door before Trinket pushes through to settle at Vex’s side of the bed. 

“Hey,” he says, voice quiet. He glances to where Percy sleeps, bundled under covers. “Everything all right? Keyleth said-”

He trails off. 

“He was kind of a mess,” Vex says, because they all know Percy is a mess regardless. “Mostly, right now, he’s tired.” She pauses, considering, but she can be both vague and honest at once and she knows her brother’s guesses probably won’t take him too close to the truth. “Ripley was a lot for him to deal with and the Feeblemind-” Vax is nodding before she has to say more. “He’s still a bit-” She lifts the hand holding Percy’s; even in his sleep he grumbles, fingers moving to keep their grip.

“He doesn’t want to be alone and undefended,” Vax says, which is honestly more insight than she’d have expected from him. “And you were there with him.” He nods, more to himself than anything else. “We uh. We should all talk about what happened. While you were stuck there. And what we found.”

“Tomorrow,” Vex says. She glances to Percy then back to her brother. “We’re not leaving him out of it. Tomorrow.”

Vax looks tired but worried more than frustrated or angry. “Yeah,” he says softly. “Tomorrow.” He crosses the room quickly, pressing a kiss to her temple. “Night Stubby.”

He’s gone as quickly as he crossed to her, door shutting behind him and Vex sighs. It’s nice not to be pushed, for there to be no further questions but the lack makes her worry. Vax hasn’t commented now. She wonders how long it’ll be before he does.

Still. He’s gone now. She doesn’t know how late it is, but Percy is peaceful beside her where he rests, his hand in hers, his body curled towards her. Some small part of Vex’s mind wonders at it - if it’s an extension of his trust of her, of ergonomic ease due to their hand-holding, if he’s simply seeking warmth. Questions, really, for another time.

She’s tired, Percy’s asleep, and she’s not leaving him while he’s like this. He’d asked her, soft as anything, to stay and after everything it’s reassuring to have him safe nearby, as well as he’s likely to be for now. She tucks herself under covers beside him, swats off the lantern on the bedside cabinet where she’d set his glasses, and settles in to sleep.

That she curls towards Percy just as he does her is something only she and Trinket are aware enough to realise.

* * *

Percy wakes slowly the next morning. Vex has been awake for a while before his eyes start to blearily blink open. She’s still there at his side, though. Such a mess as he was, she wasn’t about to leave him even come the morning, and- 

Well. They have things to talk about.

“You stayed.” Percy’s voice is soft with surprise, his eyes wide where he peers up at her, bleary without his glasses. She passes them to him and he smiles once they’re settled on his face.

“Yes,” she says. She can argue with herself about why she did so later. “Vax dropped by when they got back but that was all.”

Percy’s face goes from calm to a wide-eyed  _ oh no _ and Vex pushes on before she overthinks things.

“I don’t think any of them guessed.” Vex makes herself sound calm.. “Vax was always going to check on me when he got back no matter what but he didn’t ask why I was staying with you. Didn’t even really comment on it.” She pauses, hums. “I think Keyleth must have spoken to him.”

“Vex-” he says. He sounds uncertain and a flicker of worry, something not unlike guilt crosses his face. She doesn’t think she was wrong last night but Percy’s worry now makes her doubt herself. She swallows and makes herself speak.

“Do you regret it?” she asks, because they might as well get that out of the way now. “Last night?”

“No,” he says immediately. “No, I don’t. I know I’m not always the best judge of what I should and shouldn’t regret, but I don’t regret it.”

It’s more a relief than she’d thought it’d be to hear that aloud.

“Vex?” Percy’s voice is soft, almost tentative. He swallows, pulls himself upright and busies his hands with the bedclothes. “Not to- ah. Not to be completely obtuse, but why, ah- when I-” He lets out a long breath. “I think, yesterday, I was about as clear as I could be, given the circumstances. I’ve cared about you very deeply and for a very long time. I still do. And while that was not the only factor in last night, for me, it was- it was not an insignificant one. So I- given that-” 

She half-thinks for a moment he’s going to ask why she went along with it, but no, this is Percy. Even when undoubtedly curious he’s never been anything but respectful of boundaries: he knows better than to pry.

“Where do we stand now?” he asks eventually, glancing up from his hands to look at her. For a moment his mouth works silently. “Vex, I’ve never expected anything from you. If last night was only meant to help-”

She leans across the space and kisses him. For a moment he’s so startled he’s still trying to talk before he sighs and relaxes into it, his hand reaching for her cheek. 

“It was meant to help,” she says when she pulls back from the kiss. “But it was also because I wanted to.” She strokes a thumb over his cheek and just as yesterday he leans into the touch, eyes half-closing, easy and trusting. She draws a breath. “You’re not the only one.”

“Oh,” he says, a huff of breath that sounds almost relieved. “Oh. That’s good to hear.” His eyes stay half-lidded even as he leans into her touch, but there’s a decided smile on his face. “So- where do we stand now?”

It says a great deal that, even after what Ripley did, he’s giving her the power to choose here. To, in many ways, set the pace. Gently she strokes her thumb over his cheek, below his eye. 

“I think,” she says softly. “We’ve wasted enough time.”

Percy’s lips are gentle on her palm, warm on her own.

They are, perhaps, a little late to breakfast.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's that! Arc 2 of Ripley's Assistant is not yet done so I'll probably be posting some small little oneshots for the next couple of Mondays until it _is_ done. In the meantime - I hope you leave comments and let me know what you liked here!


End file.
